The ‘unlucky’ label doesn’t fit Iowa and Utah
- Thread starter HawkeyeHypnosis
- Start date
Its hard to figure out that the analysts always put down Iowa recruiting, but when they come up a little short they say Iowa had enough talent to be a top ten team. I liked the Iowa team last year, but Fran is upgrading the talent every year.
ATLHawkeye
Well-Known Member
He definitely makes a good point. We blew it... plain and simple.
ibahawkeye
Well-Known Member
I just don't beleive we had anywhere near top 10 talent.
Kansas had 2 of the top 3 NBA draft picks.
UCLA had 3 players drafted in the first round.
We weren't more talented than Michigan or Michigan State
UCONN won the tourney and had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
Arizona had 2 guys drafted including the #4 overall pick and both ahead of Marble
Kentucky was young but way more talented.
Duke had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
Standford had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
I just came up with 9 teams in 5 minutes just by looking at the NBA draft. Obviously the draft doesn't include other players on the roster. But there's no way I beleive that our other roster spots are upgrades from the teams above. Keeping in mind Woody, Gesell and Uthoff were only sophomores.
The list ablove also doesn't include 2 final four teams in Florida and Wisconsin.
Kansas had 2 of the top 3 NBA draft picks.
UCLA had 3 players drafted in the first round.
We weren't more talented than Michigan or Michigan State
UCONN won the tourney and had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
Arizona had 2 guys drafted including the #4 overall pick and both ahead of Marble
Kentucky was young but way more talented.
Duke had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
Standford had 2 guys drafted ahead of Marble
I just came up with 9 teams in 5 minutes just by looking at the NBA draft. Obviously the draft doesn't include other players on the roster. But there's no way I beleive that our other roster spots are upgrades from the teams above. Keeping in mind Woody, Gesell and Uthoff were only sophomores.
The list ablove also doesn't include 2 final four teams in Florida and Wisconsin.
We didn't have top 10 talent in regards to top 2 or 3 guys on the team but we had close to top 10 talent when you looked at the entire team.
Our guys 3 through 8 were pretty interchangeable which made it less likely we would lose due to the wrong guy getting into foul trouble or having an off night.
We built double digit leads in most every game we played (I would be curious to see a stat on how many games we had double digit leads in) .Teams don't due that unless they have allot of talent.
I think the leads Iowa built up were more due to the coaching staff than the overwhelming talent Iowa had. Iowa had some good players last year, but a lot of those guys were pretty young. In the last fifteen minutes of a game and especially the last ten minutes of a game you can see which team probably has the most talent. I think Iowa will be a lot more mature this year, and a lot more talented. There is going to be a big difference between Woody as a sophomore and Woody as a junior. There are a lot of other Iowa players than will be a lot better this year.
ibahawkeye
Well-Known Member
Teams with top 10 talent don't rely on guys like McCabe and Ogelsby for a lot of minutes. I don't think there was much drop off because the talent wasn't that great.
Now if only Marble would have been 1 year younger and stayed for this year. With Woody and Uthoff and Mike all a year older, perhaps we would be closer to having a team that is developed enough to have close to top 10 talent.
I like Oglesby, and hopefully, he has a good year. He kind of bombed out as a sophomore, but he had a pretty good junior year for being hurt part of it. He won't have the pressure of being the Iowa three point threat like he did his sophomore year. He is going to be surrounded by a lot more talent this coming year than he had a couple of years ago. Iowa is a completely different team when they have a consistent three point threat.
BigD
Well-Known Member
What year was this? Did they go to the NCAA tournament that year? I agree with the premise but consistent would indicate on a regular basis game after game or every other game. Marble had his games where he was great but them would throw up bricks the next game and we all know what happened in the last five minutes of each game in the last half of the season last year. No go to guy to put it in the hoop when we really really needed it. I think or at least hope Woody can bring it this year and change that. Jok would be my second guy on that list. Oglesby has that potential but I think Woody could really affect the success of this team if he can turn and score from up close. If not then he outlets it to Jok or Oglesby for the three.
MisterLucky
Well-Known Member
Despite this article, I maintain that Iowa IS one of the unluckiest teams in the country. If a game comes down to a last second shot, no matter how unlikely, the opponent always makes it. Conversely, we never seem to make that shot.
Just last year, a kid Kentucky is courting turns them for down for SMU so Calipari steals Ulis away from us. Then the original prospect decides to skip college to play in China.
Pieces of the ceiling fall over at Bloomington, postpones our game at Indiana and screws up our schedule.
It just seems as though weird things, always bad, happen to this program.
We hire the flavor of the month (Alford) and he immediately ends our trips to the NCAA and alienates the fanbase. He leaves and has success elsewhere.
Hell, we hired the national COY (Lickliter) and he totally tanks the program.
We're cursed!
Just last year, a kid Kentucky is courting turns them for down for SMU so Calipari steals Ulis away from us. Then the original prospect decides to skip college to play in China.
Pieces of the ceiling fall over at Bloomington, postpones our game at Indiana and screws up our schedule.
It just seems as though weird things, always bad, happen to this program.
We hire the flavor of the month (Alford) and he immediately ends our trips to the NCAA and alienates the fanbase. He leaves and has success elsewhere.
Hell, we hired the national COY (Lickliter) and he totally tanks the program.
We're cursed!
Funny thing about Ulis is how Calipari became interested in him. He was at the game where Ulis played the Duke commit (Tyus Jones I think) in a last ditch effort to get him. Ulis played a great game and Calipari offered.
If Calipari would have just known when he was beat with Jones, or if Ulis wouldn't have had such a good game, he could very well be a hawk right now. Now that's some crappy luck.
It does make a difference if you have more than just a three point shooting team too. Iowa should be more than a three point shooting team this year. I don't think they will have to rely on the three point shot, but hopefully, use it to their advantage.
BigD
Well-Known Member
Totally agree.
